Elinice Bernard
'Elinice Paulette Bernard '''is the younger of two siblings and the only daughter of a prominent family of farmers hailing from Kul Tiras. Despite the loss of her sight, she overcomes life's challenges through a combination of magic, cunning, and humor. Even as a member of the Forsaken, she has not entirely forgotten the role humor plays in maintaining one's spirit, and strives to keep herself smiling, as well as her peers. Background Childhood Elinice was born to Whitmor and Jola Bernard, a pair of prominent farmers from the small merchant down of Brennadam in northern Kul Tiras. She was raised on her family farm, and it was her job to tend to the chickens and collect eggs when available. On her off time, she spent her hours reading from her parents' personal library. Most of the books were fictitious accounts of Kul Tiras' founding, but she quickly learned to find what was true and imaginary. At the young age of seven, she was found to have a natural aptitude for the arcane, and her aunt and uncle - Valentina and Pattin Townend - volunteered to take her to Dalaran for training. Studying in Dalaran Although it took much time to adjust, she eventually found herself in her element - surrounded by books on all subjects of magic, history, and myth. She leafed through them as quickly as she could, but most of her time was dedicated to studying magic. She advanced faster than her peers, which came to a sudden halt when a freak accident left her permanently blind. A fellow student had made a mistake with one of their spells, which had rendered Elinice's eyes useless as a result. Although devastated, she soon found a means of mitigating the worst of her ordeal. She found that she was able to track movement through arcane presences. This was difficult at first, and her fellow students and teachers carried small magical trinkets with them to help her see where they were. Over time, she was able to track more complicated - and fainter - magic sources, and was even able to track leylines to some degree. The Siege of Dalaran On her twenty-sixth birthday, Elinice received word that the king of Lordaeron, Terenas Menethil II, had been murdered by his son and heir, Arthas. She had heard tales of the prince as being a fair, if brash, man, and did not believe the rumors as they came. More rumors of the collapse of Quel'Thalas were suspicious, and her investigations turned up some terrible information. Lordaeron had indeed fallen to an undead menace, and Quel'Thalas soon followed. All too soon, Dalaran came under attack by the menace known as the Scourge. Her handicap prevented her from being any real help, and was forced to evacuate the city before the battle fell out of the Kirin Tor's favor. In the madness, both her aunt and uncle gave their lives to defend the city, and were absorbed into the Scourge's collective. In Hiding With a small band of survivors, Elinice set up camp in the forests far beyond Dalaran's borders. She helped as best she could, but her handicap limited what she could do. At best, she was able to light a fire using magic, but such things were rarely needed so as to limit their potential for being seen. They continued to travel, and on one night Elinice was awoken by the feeling of something pressing down on her chest. She could not see what it was, but its magical presence was overwhelming - almost blinding. She nearly screamed when a single claw pressed against her lips, and a shrill voice told her that she could be helped. The presence did not tell her its name, only that it was an agent of "those that would remake this world." It told her that she could learn much from it, and gave her a magical tome to be read in the night. The presence then vanished, and Elinice inspected the book. She found that, while she could not literally read the words printed on its pages, she could absorb knowledge from its contents. The knowledge was insidious and alien in nature, but incredibly powerful. She learned how to bend fire and shadow, and to empower herself with unholy spells and incantations. On that night, Elinice Bernard became a warlock. Death and Rebirth With her newfound knowledge she was able to practice dark magics while her fellow refugees slept. Although it took time, she was able to gain some insight on how to cast shadowbolts and empower herself with demonic armor. The most important to her, however, was her newfound ability to track not through arcane presences, but through souls. She could track anyone and anything with a soul and see it much more clearly than through faint arcane trails. This collection of knowledge was short lived, however, as her camp was found by Scourge scouts. Before anyone could act, they found themselves massacred by ghouls and gargoyles, Elinice among them. Much of what happened later is entirely a blur. The next thing she could remember was finding herself cold, alone, naked, and terrified in a dense, rotten forest. She looked around, panicked, in search of civilization. Several hours of frantic searching eventually payed off when she stumbled blindly into a village, far to the west of Lordaeron. This village, Deathknell, welcomed her with open arms upon finding that she was sentient. After being clothed and informed of her new condition, Elinice spent the next several hours at the inn, pondering her new existence. She carefully considered her life choices, and decided that if this was her fate, she would embrace it. The book that gave her the knowledge she craved was long gone, and the creature that gave her the book had not been heard from since. She knew enough to start, however, and decided to carve her own path of glory across Azeroth. Personality Elinice has lived most of her life with a handicap, and although it was difficult at first she has learned to cope through humor and self-improvement. Even in undeath she has found it necessary to entertain herself to maintain her wits. She cannot read books that are not magical in nature, but has taken up oral storytelling as a replacement. She enjoys this both ways, and is ready and willing to either share a tale or listen to one instead. When not engaging in this pastime, she is exploring Azeroth and learning forbidden magics along the way. Her hope is to become powerful enough that no handicap could possible put her down for good, and her innate immortality has made her a patient and enduring student of the dark arts. A major blow taken to her mind after death, however, is her maternal and protective instincts. While she was once nurturing and loyal, she has lost these traits in favor of more selfish goals. While not necessarily a sociopath, she will typically put herself above those around her, and cares little for those that would be actively hostile. Exceptions can be made for those she considers close, but she will always choose her own well being over that of a stranger. Physical Description Elinice stands at roughly five and a half feet tall. In life, her skin was a tan color, and her hair was black. Her eyes were green, but following her accident in Dalaran her eyes became a pale grey. She was not particularly vain, and only kept up what appearances she considered necessary, namely hygiene. Following her death and reanimation, she maintained this lack of vanity. Although her corpse preserved relatively well thanks to the necromantic energies keeping her together, she has not been keen on improving herself aesthetically. Her blindness plays no small role in this decision, as she is unaware of any standards of beauty, be they among humans, forsaken, or otherwise. The one thing she does try to maintain is basic hygiene, namely smells. She realizes that, as a member of the forsaken, her natural scent leaves much to be desired, and so she carries with her strong-scented flowers. She is unsure how well this works, and further testing among the living is required. There is a stitched scar over her abdomen. She is unsure how it got there, and she only discovered it by inspecting herself. Her memory of her own death is fuzzy at best, but she has reasoned she was likely disemboweled, possibly by a death knight or an abomination, then put back together. "A Blinding Fate" Long must a mage study before they are ready to cast magic more complex than a firebolt. To explore the very fabric of reality, to alter the physical properties around oneself, was one of the greatest feats a spellcaster could achieve. The gifted few who could make such ideas a reality studied in the magical city-state of Dalaran, and Elinice Bernard was among them. She approached the tall, violet spire in the center of the city, took a long drawn breath, and walked up the dozen steps at the door. More children just like her did the same, each one as eager to please their teachers as the next. Elinice eyed the portraits along the walls, and her bright blue eyes glittered with fascination. One in particular had caught her attention. One of a pale man with a thick, grey beard, and sunken, wretched eyes. There was a certain gloom to his face, and Elinice stood still and stared. “Daydreaming, Miss Bernard?” said a tall elf only a couple meters away. Elinice jumped in her own boots and spun around - not like that of a dancer, but more of a startled goblin. It was one of the instructors, a red-haired gentleman by the name of Teleron Freebreath. “Oh, uh,” she stammered over her own words. “I was just-” “-Admiring the portraits, I take it?” Teleron said. “There are worse ways to waste one’s time. Has this one drawn your curiosity, Miss Bernard?” He pointed lazily at the gloom portrait. “Yes, yes that’s right,” said Elinice. “Who is he?” “I’m quite surprised that you do not know, Miss Bernard.” He cleared his throat before continuing. “This, my dear, is a portrait of one of the greatest mages on all of Azeroth, Kel’Thuzad. He is of the Council of Six, the ruling body of Dalaran.” She had heard the name in her history lectures. As brilliant and powerful as he was bizarre and unorthodox. She knew little more of him beyond the most publicly known facts. “Now, Miss Bernard,” Teleron said, “I believe you have a class to attend.” Without saying anything more, Elinice darted across the pristine hall and made a sharp turn into the last room on the left. Within, eleven other children sat in groups of two, save for one lonely boy, and a young gnomish woman standing atop almost two-dozen books before a podium. The instructor was relatively new to Dalaran, but had passed her trials with astonishing grace. Her name was Tissi Swiftstitch. “Elinice,” Tissi said, “you were precisely seven seconds shy of being late.” “Sorry, professor,” said Elinice. She moved silently across the room and sat beside the other lonely child. He was a fair haired young lad named Hadrian Denholm. The professor gave a short lecture on the nature of the arcane, and how one can improve themselves and the world around them through magic. She gave an example of using a light bird’s feather to slow one’s fall, and ended with one final request. “You will each use the supplies provided to temporarily enhance the vision of your partner, and then your partner will do the same.” Before each student were two sets of ingredients - arcane dust, and vials containing vulture eyes. The professor gave out her instructions, and the children got to work. Hadrian immediately pushed the vulture eye aside and quietly withdrew another vial from his student robes. “Hey, Ellie,” he said in a hushed voice. “Check out what I brought.” He set the vial before Elinice. It contained a pale, translucent orb. “What is it?” she said. “A frenzy eye,” he said. “A vulture can only see so far. A frenzy on the other hand can sense blood and other cool stuff from half a continent away.” Elinice rolled her own eyes. “That can’t be true. Besides, the logic doesn’t make sense. You’re suppose to enhance my eyesight, not-” “Shh,” Hadrian said. “We don’t need Swiftstitch the Swiftsnitch finding out. This’ll work, trust me. My brother said so.” Elinice sighed. “Fine, we’ll see how this goes.” Hadrian’s face lit up, and he immediately got to work. He placed a pile of arcane dust on the table, no larger than his own knuckle, and proceeded to place the frenzy eye on top with the precision of a cherry atop ice cream. The eye was eaten away by the dust until nothing remained but the pile, and he scooped it into a clenched fist. He turned to face Elinice, who in turn faced him, and held out his palm and blew. In seconds, Elinice was on the floor screaming. A searing, stabbing pain ripped at her eyes, as though a large beast had carved her skull wide open. She could barely feel the dust cling to her skin as the agony continued. She felt the grabbing hands of other students around her arms and shoulders, and behind the mind-wracking pain she heard faint voices, ''What’s wrong? What happened? Get … cleric … -ow! She felt herself nearly forced back into a chair, and she heard the faint voice of Hadrian crying, I’m sorry, I’m sorry! When she mustered the strength to force her eyes open, she could see only flashing specks against darkness. She aggressively patted at her eyes, but all she saw were specks of light in the dark. She was completely, and totally, blind. OOC Information/Trivia Elinice's player can be contacted via Discord at Jabba the Butt#7142 Elinice's surname, Bernard, is named for the fictional character Andy Bernard, from the NBC sitcom The Office.Category:Characters Category:Forsaken